There She Is
For All Nails #130: There She Is by Sir Francis Burdett ---- :Curtain comes down on beauty queen drama :September 18, 1974 Mexico City, C.D. (MP) -- A court ruling brought down the curtain on the stranger-than-fiction saga of battling beauty queens, allegations of compromising photos and a judge intent on protecting "a significant part of Mexicana." FN1 U.S.M. District Judge Diego Fox on Thursday balked at Jacqueline Bracamontes Van-Hoordes' bid to force the Miss Mexico Organization to let both Bracamontes, the original Miss Arizona 1974, and Erika Yadira Cruz Escalante, the runner-up who replaced her, compete in the Miss Mexico Pageant. FN2 Immediately after the judge's decision, acting pageant President Andres Noceti declared Bracamontes out, clearing the runway for Cruz to compete as Arizona's entry. Preliminary competition begins Tuesday in Tampico. "This (ruling) is bittersweet for me," Cruz said Friday during joint appearances with Bracamontes on morning vita news shows. "I feel bad that Jacqueline can't complete her lifelong dream of competing in the pageant, but I think we'll both be fine." Bracamontes said there was no animosity between the two. "We're both proper Northern ladies and we can deal with this," FN3 Bracamontes said. The judge said Miss Mexico -- the icon -- helped guide his decision. "The Miss Mexico pageant over the years, by virtue largely of its contestants, has become a significant part of Mexicana," said Fox, of Saltillo, Arizona, who heard nearly a week of legal arguments and testimony. "In a very real sense, Miss Mexico represents Mexico. "There is a public interest in seeing that that image is not tarnished because if it is tarnished there will be fewer contestants, there will be fewer scholarships, there will be fewer ideals to uphold. I don't think that's silly. We are a country that admires bravery, courage and integrity. We instill it in our youth." FN4 The double entry would have presented an awkward prospect at the September 28 pageant and would have been unprecedented in the Pageant's history. Bracamontes, a 24-year-old English teacher, won the Arizona pageant June 22, but later resigned after ex-boyfriend Hugo Chavez Frias told the Miss Mexico Organization officials in an originally anonymous letter that was subsequently deemed to be his, that he had "compromising" photos of her taken in 1972. No photos ever surfaced. Bracamontes contended she was given a quit-or-be-fired ultimatum by pageant officials. Pageant officials contended that once she resigned, the title belonged to Cruz, the first runner-up. "There are no winners in a situation like this," Noceti said. "What the ruling does is help us continue our efforts to have an equal playing field." Although Cruz is the Miss Arizona recognized by Miss Mexico, a state judge's order last week means Bracamontes also has that title, at least until her lawsuit against the state pageant is heard. She and Cruz said they had not discussed how they would divide their duties usually performed by the pageant winner. While Cruz won a spot on the runway, Bracamontes seemed to have captured public sentiment. "What guy doesn't take a photo every once in a while?" said gambler Nick Russo, 64, of Puerto Hancock, who was walking the Boardwalk with his wife. "You're supposed to keep that at home, aren't you?" FN5 "She should have been allowed to compete, because of the way the boyfriend reported it, and his motives," said Billy Allen, 63, of Collingsville, Jefferson, as he stood at a Miss Mexico souvenir stand on the Boardwalk. On the boyfriend issue, the judge agreed. "The individual involved is below despicable," Fox said of Chavez. ---- Forward to FAN #131: November Election. Forward to 21 September 1974: The Unforgettable Fire. Return to For All Nails. Category:Miscellaneous